US 5,531,641 AGranted

Recreational vehicle air conditioner ceiling grille with register

AssigneeDometic Corporation

InventorRoger L. Aldrich

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Abstract

An air conditioning system for a recreational vehicle is provided having a rooftop mounted air conditioning unit with an outlet for conditioned air and an inlet for return air and an air distribution system. The air distribution system includes ducts mounted between the roof and a ceiling of the recreational vehicle that are in communication with the outlet of the air conditioning unit. The air distribution system also includes registers mounted in openings of the ceiling to discharge the conditioned air from the ducts into various areas of the interior of the recreational vehicle. A ceiling grille is mounted at the ceiling below the air conditioning unit and has a return air grille and a closable register. The return air grille communicates the inlet of the air conditioning unit with the interior of the recreational vehicle. The closable register is positioned directly below the outlet of the air conditioning unit so that when the register is opened a proportionally larger amount of the conditioned air is discharged to rapidly cool the area of the interior below the air conditioning unit. When the register is closed the areas of the interior are equally cooled.

Claims15

Dependent claims

A grille for use with an air conditioning system of a recreational vehicle, the air conditioning system including an air conditioning unit mounted on a roof of the recreational vehicle, a ceiling template mounted to the air conditioning unit at the ceiling of the recreational vehicle and spaced from the air conditioning unit to form a plenum chamber between the ceiling template and the air conditioning unit, the ceiling template having first and second openings, a divider mounted within the plenum chamber to divide the plenum chamber into a return portion and a discharge portion, the return portion in communication with the inlet of the air conditioning unit and the first opening of the ceiling template, the discharge portion in communication with the outlet of the air conditioning unit and the second opening of the ceiling template, at least one duct in communication with the discharge portion of the plenum chamber, and registers located in the duct to distribute conditioned air from the air conditioning unit to various areas within an interior of the recreational vehicle, said grille comprising a panel, a return air grille mounted within said panel and positioned to communicate the first opening of the ceiling template with the interior of the recreational vehicle, and a closable register mounted within said panel and positioned to communicate the second opening of the ceiling template with a predetermined area of said interior of the recreational vehicle, wherein said closable register is located in a plane generally perpendicular to a direction of flow of conditioned air entering the discharge portion of the plenum chamber through the outlet of the air conditioning unit so that a larger amount of conditioned air is discharged from the discharge portion of the plenum chamber through said closable register than through the registers of the duct when said closable register is open.

An air conditioning system for installation in a recreational vehicle having a roof and an interior with a ceiling, said air conditioning system comprising:

an air conditioning unit to be mounted on the roof of the recreational vehicle and having an outlet for conditioned air and an inlet for return air;
a ceiling template to be mounted to said air conditioning unit at the ceiling of the recreational vehicle and spaced from said air conditioning unit to form a plenum chamber between said ceiling template and said air conditioning unit, said ceiling template having first and second openings;
a divider to be mounted within said plenum chamber to divide said plenum chamber into a return portion and a discharge portion, said return portion in communication with said inlet of said air conditioning unit and said first opening of said ceiling template, said discharge portion in communication with said outlet of said air conditioning unit and said second opening of said ceiling template;
at least one duct to be mounted between the roof and the ceiling of the recreational vehicle in communication with said discharge portion of said plenum chamber;
registers to be mounted in openings of the ceiling of the recreational vehicle for communicating said duct with various areas of the interior of the recreational vehicle;
and
a ceiling grille to be mounted at the ceiling and below said ceiling template and having a return air grille and a closable register, said return air grille positioned for communicating said first opening of said ceiling template with the interior of the recreational vehicle, said closable register positioned for selectively communicating said second opening of said ceiling template with the interior of the recreational vehicle below said air conditioner unit, wherein said second opening of said ceiling template is located in a plane generally parallel to a plane containing said outlet of said air conditioning unit and facing said outlet of the air conditioning unit such that when said closable register is open a proportionally larger amount of conditioned air is discharged from said discharge portion of said plenum chamber through said closable register than through said registers of said duct.

4 more elements

A recreational vehicle comprising:

a roof having an opening;
an interior space having various areas and a ceiling with an opening below said opening in said roof;
an air conditioning unit mounted on said roof over said opening in said roof and having an outlet for conditioned air and an inlet for return air;
a ceiling template mounted to said air conditioning unit at said opening of said ceiling to form a plenum chamber between said ceiling template and said air conditioning unit, said ceiling template having first and second openings;
a divider mounted within said plenum chamber to divide said plenum chamber into a return portion and a discharge portion, said return portion in communication with said inlet of said air conditioning unit and said first opening of said ceiling template, said discharge portion in communication with said outlet of said air conditioning unit and said second opening of said ceiling template;
at least one duct mounted between said roof and said ceiling and in communication with said outlet of said air conditioning unit;
registers mounted in said ceiling for communicating said duct with said various areas of said interior;
and
a ceiling grille mounted below said ceiling template and having a return air grille and a closable register, said return air grille communicating said first opening of said ceiling template with said interior, said closable register selectively communicating said second opening of said ceiling template with said interior below said air conditioning unit, wherein said second opening of said ceiling template is located in a plane generally parallel to a plane containing said outlet of said air conditioning unit and facing said outlet of said air conditioning unit such that when said closable register is open a proportionally larger amount of conditioned air is discharged from said discharge portion of said plenum chamber through said closable register than through said registers in said duct.

6 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.